HTPC GURU help needed

[mmatheny]

Well, talked to a tier 2 Samsung tech, and he said setting the name has no effect on how the port handles input - it's just for human readibility. So, the port auto-detects HDMI audio, and for some reason, the nVidia driver is telling the TV that it has audio, so it disables the analog. I am going to apply the driver hack I found to see if that fixes it.

[whurlston]

There should be a two pin audio connector on the 9600GT. You can connect this to the SPDIF output of your motherboard and send audio through the HDMI.

Also, get AnyDVD HD from http://www.slysoft.com to eliminate HDCP issues. It's pretty much required for HD DVD/Bluray on a PC.

[mmatheny]

Finally fixed it - I am off to watch some HD DVDs - I will report back what I had to do (and it took me DAYS) so I can save others headaches with nVidia's drivers. (they have known about this issue since at least March of this year, and all they can say is "We're working on it!"

[mmatheny]

Well, it turns out to be a bug in nVidia's drivers that has been there since at least March. They are trying to get overly smart, and pull the EDID (electronic device ID) from the monitor (my TV). The EDID of my monitor tells the drivers that it is an HDTV, so the nVidia drivers then assume it can send audio over the HDMI (and actually, there is a digital input on my video card for this, but my outputs are DVI, not HDMI. I have read that it is possible to send digital audio over DVI) But back to the story. The nVidia drivers then transmit a "null" audio stream over the DMI to HDMI cable, telling my TV in effect that it should be expecting digital audio over the HDMI, so shut off the analog input.

The fix is to add a registry setting for the monitor (my TV) that tells the nVidia drivers it is only an LCD flat panel display, not capable of digital audio, and then the drivers don't try to send audio, and the TV doesn't disable the analog inputs.

This is the best method:
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?...737&page=2

[mmatheny]

Well, I am ONE HAPPY CAMPER now (and so' my wife!)- picked up some connectors at my local electronics store, made a cable to patch the SPDIF from the MB to the 9600, updated the audio drivers (2.10 - Realtek), removed and reinstalled the video drivers, rebooted - viola! Sound over DVI-HDMI cable!

Now, if Sub can figure out why WinTV tunes so many more channels than GBPVR, I'm set!

Question - the volume on the SPDIF is grayed out and can't be changed, even the master volume doesn't change it - is this normal ? (my first venture into SPDIF/Digital)

Forgot to add, I took my HTPC up to my main system and hooked it to a 21" CRT monitor to do some work, and when I brought it back down and hooked it back to my Samsung, analog audio didn't work again. Did the regedits, driver hacks, could never get analog audio again, that's why I went the hardware (cable) route.

[sub]

Now, if Sub can figure out why WinTV tunes so many more channels than GBPVR, I'm set!

I'm still waiting on you for that one. When you arrange some VNC time then I'll look into it.

[mmatheny]

I thought you wanted to take a look at my WinTV database before we went the next step - did you get a chance to see how many channels it finds? Or find anything interesting?

[sub]

I thought you wanted to take a look at my WinTV database before we went the next step

No. As I said in my email, the WinTV database is just reference when I'm having a look on your machine, so I know frequencies GB-PVR should be showing channels etc. There is nothing of value to me in the database until I have your machine in front of me.

[mmatheny]

OK - will try to get set up so you can get in, right now for some reason, I can't get to the Internet on it, but CAN get to other PCs in my domain and to it from them, so now gotta troubleshoot THAT issue! (Neverending!) Plus, I need to put it on a DMZ so you don't get to my other PCs and server! (not that I don't trust you, but gotta be safe!!)

[mmatheny]

Question - the volume on the SPDIF is grayed out and can't be changed, even the master volume doesn't change it - is this normal ? (my first venture into SPDIF/Digital)

Anyone know this answer - is SPDIF a fixed output?